Guantánamo prisoners on hunger strike

As many as 200 of the 505 prisoners being held at the U.S. naval base in Guan tánamo are in their fifth week of a hunger strike. They pledge to keep it up until either they win a change in conditions at the prison or they die.

The strike first received publicity when the British daily newspaper, The Guard ian, published an article Sept. 9 from a report by the British human rights lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith, based on statements from the prisoners.

These statements, written Aug. 11, were not declassified by the U.S. government until Sept. 7. They reveal that the prisoners are starving themselves to protest conditions at the camp, mistreatment by the prison authorities and desecration of the Koran by U.S. guards.

Smith, who represents 40 prisoners at the camp, says 200 prisoners are involved. The Pentagon first said there were 76, then 89, and the latest report in the Sept. 13 Washington Post is that 128 prisoners have been on hunger strike. Smith called the situation “desperate” and thinks some of his clients are likely to die.

Smith told the media, “The American military doesn’t want anyone to know about this.”

Major Jeffrey J. Weir, a Guantánamo spokesperson, told the Post that of the 18 detainees hospitalized, 13 were being force-fed through nasal tubes and five were being given intravenous hydration.

Hunger striker Binyam Mohammed said in his statement: “I do not plan to stop until I either die or we are respected.” Having grown up in London and being familiar with British politics toward the Irish liberation struggle, Mohammed added: “People will definitely die. Bobby Sands petitioned the British government to stop the illegitimate internment of Irishmen without trial. He had the courage of his convictions and he starved himself to death. Nobody should believe for one moment that my brothers here have less courage.”

Bobby Sands died on May 5, 1981, after 66 days of a hunger strike.

None of the prisoners at Guantánamo has faced a trial nor even been charged with specific crimes. These prisoners have been held for three and a half years now.

A hunger strike begun earlier this summer ended when the prison administration pledged to observe the Geneva Con ventions. Prisoners believe they were double-crossed and resumed their hunger strike on Aug. 11.